Freight container



Dec. 19, 1939. 0. w. PERIN 2,183,794-

FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed Aug. 17, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I l il. l

Dec. 19, 1939. D, w, PERM 2,183,794

FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed Aug. 1'7, 19:55 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 frzbjerzio7formal [fife/ 77670 ,z 7ddg afifyz 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 a ain;

D. W. PERIN FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed Aug. 1'7, 1935 Dec. 19, 1939.

Dec. 19, 1939. D. w. PERIN 2,133,794

FREIGHT CONTAINER Filed Aug. 17, 19:55 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dec.19, 1939 LINHED STATES 2,183,794 FREIGHT CONTAINER-1 Donald W. Perin,Greenfield, Mass, assignor to Roloff Inc., of Mass, Cambridge, Mass.) acorporation of Massachusetts Application August 1' 7, 1935, Serial 'No.36,665

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in freight containers and infreight cars for trans-- porting such containers.

The primary object of this invention is to provide in such cars sidegates through which the containers are loaded and unloaded meansincluding posts by which the side gates are secured in place and heldagainst weaving and the containers are locked in position upon the cars,the container locking means being operable from either side of the car.

A further object of this invention is to provide upon the inner faces ofthe side gates of the cars, tracks by which containers of the castortype are guided during the loading and unloading of the cars.

These and other objects will appear from a consideration of thefollowing description of my invention and an examination of theaccompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in which Fig. 1 is aview in side elevation of a freight car embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a portion of a loaded car showing thecontainers locked in place with one of the side gates open;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a locking post and a side gate,the latter being shown open so that containers may be transportedthereover;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the inner face of a typical side gate in theopened position and a portion of the car floor;

Figs. 5, 6, and '7 are enlarged cross sectional views taken respectivelyalong the section lines 5-5, G-6, and l''i in Fig. i;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of portions of a post, two adjacent side gates andtwo containers showing the gates locked to the post and portions of twocontainers locked in position in a car;

Fig. 9 is a front view of the post and containers, the gates beingomitted;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line lfllll in Fig. 8showing the gate locking mechanism;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the unit on the post by which the gateand container locking instrumentalities are supported and the gates aresecured in closed position;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view illustrating 'a por tion of theinterlocking means for positioning the gates; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective View of a portion of a gate and the lockinginstrumentality carried thereby.

The containers 20 here shown are of the .castor continued central beam652 are inclined beyond the cross type which can be rolled onto and edthe cars 25 without difficulty. It will be understood, however, thatcontainers of other types, e. g., crane or platform handled may betransported by thecars if desired. The containers in the cars aresupported upon tracks carried by cross beams 23.

mounted at their ends upon side beams 24 (only one such beam being hereshown.)

The car 25 is provided with side gates 26 which when opened serve toguide and support the containers as the cars are loaded and unloaded.

Mounted upon the side beams 24 at the joinders between each two adjacentgates are looking posts 27. Each post comprises a U-shaped channel beam28 carried by a base 29 which rests upon a side beam 24; a horizontalbeam 3?! extending inwardly from the beam 28 and supported'at the otherend upon a brace 3! extending from the side beam 24 and a brace 32extending from an inner longitudinal beam 33 parallel to the side beam24; and a third brace 3 t extending from the beam 33 to the joinder ofthe beam 28 and the horizontal beam 3. Each post 21! forms a support forone of the container and gate securing instrumentalities to be'describedlater.

The gates 26 are hinged upon a plurality of pins 35 carried by the gateswhich engage brackets 36 mounted on the side beams 24. The outer face ofthe gate is formed by a plate 3'! reinforced by angle beams 38 whichextend along the base and sideedges and along parts of the top edge. Theside edges of the plate 31 extend beyond the beams 38 as shownparticularly in Fig. 12. Fixed upon the inner face of the gate are apair of parallel tracks 39 having guide flanges M! at the outer edgesthereof. A beam 4! extending across the gate from one side to the otherand mounted at its ends on beams 38 serves to strengthen the "gate andinsure that the tracks 39 remain in place. The ends of the tracks 39 aresecured by rivetsorthe like to the angle beams 38. A

central beam 42 midway between the tracks- 39 is secured to the anglebeam 38 at the base edge of the gate and to the cross beam M Supportedby the tracks 39 and the central beam 52 are plates 53 and 44. The plate43 extends from thecross beam 4! and, as shown in Fig. 4 terminatesshort of the base edge although it could if desired be to that edge. Thetracks 39 and beam 4! so that the plate 44 meets the edge of the outerplate 37 as shown particularly in Figs. 6 and 7. The tracks 39 arepreferably castings and in order to reinforce the outerends intergralbraces indicated in Fig. 4 by dotted lines have been provided.

The tracks 39 (see Fig. 4) of the gates register with tracks 45 carriedby the cross beams 23 of the car. Flanges 46 at the inner edges of thetracks serve to position the containers in the cars. Plates 4! carriedby the flanges of each pair of the tracks 45 close the spacestherebetween.

Loading or unloading containers provided with casters onto the cars maybe carried out by means of the structure thus described as follows. Thecar being at a platform 48 side gates 26 are lowered to rest thereon(see Fig. 3). The containers guided by the tracks 39 and 45 are thuseasily moved between the car and the platform. The plates 43 and 44being firmly supported by the tracks 39 and central beam 42 form aflooring over which a small tractor can be driven to move thecontainers.

When loaded onto a car each container is located between the posts 21.Supported upon the top of each post 21 at the forward end of thehorizontal beam 30 is a base 50. The base is channular having flangeswhich extend at the sides of the beams 28 and 30. At the forward end ofthe base between the flanges 5! is a block 52 having a flange 53 whichextends into the channel of the beam 'ZB and an angle member 54 whichextends over the block 52. Carried by the member 54 are a pair ofsockets 55. A pair of brackets 55 at the rearward end of the base areprovided with holes 5'! which register with the interior of the sockets55. Mounted on the base midway between the angle member 54 and thebrackets 56 are a pair of parallel plates 58, spaced a suitable distanceapart and provided with holes 59 in register with each other. Similarlyholes 65 provided in the block 52 register with holes 6| provided in theangle member 54. As shown particularly in Fig. 11 the base 50 is castwith the flanges 5|, block 52, flange 53, member 55, sockets 55,brackets 56 and plates 58 all integral there-with. It will be understoodof course that if desired any or all of these elements may be formedindependently and secured to the base in any suitable manner.

Shafts 55 which extend across the car are mounted at their ends in thesockets 55 and brackets 56 of the bases. Suitably fixed at the ends ofeach shaft between a socket and a bracket is an arm E58 here shown ascomprising a sleeve 5?, through which the shaft passes, a latch 68having an aperture 59 therein and a handle l0. Mounted at the corners ofthe containers are upwardly and outwardly projecting tongues TI.

The shafts can thus be operated from either side of the car and whenmoved to the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the apertures 69 of thelatches t8 engage the tongues H of an adjacent container to secure it inposition upon the car. The containers 20 are full sized extendingacross, the car andthe tongues H at all four corners are engaged by thelatches of the two adjacent shafts 55. If half size containers should beused the outer ends only would be engaged but in view of the fact thatthe containers are also positioned by the tracks this engagement will befound sufficient particularly if the full size container is replaced bytwo half size containers.

Pivotally supported on a pin 15 carried by the holes 58 of the plates 58is a handle 16 which passes between the plates 58. Pivoted at one end tothe inner end of the handle 16 is a curved bar ll which passes betweenthe plates 58 below the pin l5. At the free outer end of the bar H ismounted a short rod 18 the ends of which project beyond the sides of thearm. At the upper corners of each gate are fixed angle plates 89 each ofwhich carries a block 8! projecting beyond the edge of the gate andhaving a hole 52 therethrough. The outer edge of the block 8| isprovided with a depression 83 defined in part by a curved lip 84 whichterminates short of the corner to form a recess 85 (see Fig. 13).

The gates are positioned and locked in place as follows. The flanges 38at the sides of the gate enter the hollow of the channel beam 28 (seeFig. 12) and the blocks 8! at the corners of the gates enter the spacebetween the block 52 and the angle member 54 (see Fig. The lips 84 ofthe blocks 8! are received in a curved recess at the lower edge of theangle member 54 and the holes 82 in the blocks register with the holes50 of the block 52 and the holes 6| of the member 54. The gates havingbeen so located are locked in place by the ends of the rod 18 which arelocated in the depressions 83 by the lowering of the handle. The end ofthe bar 'ii enters the pocket formed by the adjacent recesses 85. As afurther precaution pins 90 may be inserted in the registering holes BI,82 and 60 to lock the gates to the posts.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the posts 21 andthe base 50 serve to lock both the containers and the side gates of thecar in place and to prevent weaving of the gates, and that the gates areprovided with tracks by which containers of the castor type are guidedto the tracks on the car. It will also be apparent as shown particularlyin Figs. 6 and '7 that the tracks 39 and plates 44 are inclined so thatthey terminate at the edge of the gate. The containers, if of the castortype, and tractors can thus be loaded onto the cars without difficultyand without the use of a skid or other supplementary guiding means.

While one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described I amnot limited thereto since other embodiments thereof may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in thefollowing claims.

. I claim:

1. In a car having side gates and adapted to transport a plurality offreight containers, means for locking said gates in closed positioncomprising a plurality of posts mounted within the car, elements mountedon the corners of the gates and locking means carried by said posts forengagement with said gate elements, said elements including blocks andsaid means including blocks and angle members, spaced apart to formpockets which receive the blocks of, the gate elements, and pins whichsecure the gate blocks in the pockets, and means carried by said postsfor securing the containers in position in the car.

2. In a car having side gates and adapted to transport a plurality offreight containers, means for locking said gates in closed positioncomprising a plurality of posts mounted within the car, elements mountedon the corners of the gates and locking means carried by said posts forengagement with said gate elements, said elements including blocks eachhaving a depression therein and said means including blocks and anglemembers spaced apart to form pockets which receive the blocks of thegate elements, and arms pivotally mounted on the posts and carryingrods, which rods enter the depressions of the blocks of the gateselements when the gates are closed and secure the gates in place, andmeans carried by said posts for securing the containers in position inthe car.

3. In a car having side gates and adapted to transport a plurality offreight containers, means for locking said gates in closed positioncomprising a plurality of posts mounted upon the floor of the car at thejoinder of each two adjacent gates, angle beams projecting from theinner faces of the gates, each of said posts including a U shaped beamso arranged that the flanges of the two gate beams, enter the beam ofthe post, a locking arm carried by the post, and blocks projecting fromthe upper corners of the gates, and a handle for actuating said arm andcausing it to engage said blocks and secure both the gates in the closedposition.

4. In a car having hinged side gates and adapted to transport aplurality of freight containers, tracks transversely extending acrossthe car on which tracks the containers are supported and tracks carriedby the inner faces of the gates in a plane spaced therefrom by whichwhen the gates are opened the containers are guided to the tracks on thecar when the containers are loaded thereon.

5. In a car having hinged side gates and adapted to transport aplurality of freight containers, tracks transversely extending acrossthe car on which tracks the containers are supported, tracks carried bythe inner faces of the gates in a plane spaced therefrom by which whenthe gates are opened the containers are guided to the tracks on the carwhen the containers are load-ed thereon and flooring between the trackson the gates supported by the inner faces of the gates and in the planeof the tracks adapted to support a tractor or other leading means.

6. In a car having hinged side gates and adapted to transport aplurality of freight containers of the casto-r type, tracks transverselyextending across the car which receive the castors of the containers,and tracks carried by the inner faces of the gates in a plane spacedtherefrom by which, when the gates are opened, the castors of thecontainers are guided to or from the tracks on the car when thecontainers are loaded upon or unloaded from the car.

7 In a car having hinged side gates and adapted to transport a pluralityof freight containers of the castor type, tracks transversely extendingacross the carwhich receive the castors of the containers, trackscarried by the inner faces of the gates in a plane spaced therefrom bywhich, when the gates are opened, the castors of the containers areguided to or from the tracks on the car when the containers are loadedupon or unloaded from the car and flooring between the tracks on thegates supported by the inner faces of the gates and. in the plane of thetracks adapt-'

